Warm weather in some of California's tomato-growing regions has sped up harvesting of the tomato crop there. With accelerated maturation throwing off growers' planning, the spurts and gaps in production have affected pricing.“We had a good start to the season, and then the heat came along,” said Todd Giardina of The Dimare Company in Newman, California. “As conditions got hotter, the tomatoes grew faster.” Accelerated maturation threw off the timing of many growers, who typically harvest their tomatoes on a 90-day cycle. But warm weather brought on more supplies sooner than expected and could cause gaps in production later in the season. Giardina noted that the past three weeks have seen low prices, in the range of $3 to $5 per 25-pound case, which is lower than the $7 to $10 per case growers were seeing this time last year.
“The reason for the prices is that there's too much product,” said Giardina. “The harvest has been pushed up, so there will be gaps and swings in production.”
For more information:
Todd Giardina
The DiMare Company
+1 209 862 2872